May 14, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: culture, sin, pride, humility
They do wrong and evil. They know it and yet keep doing it. They even give approval to others who do it. This is Paul’s point in Romans 1:32: They do wrong. They know it’s wrong. They even condone such wrongs. If I were to discuss this with the average Christian, who would they think I was describing? Them. The culture. The world......
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April 16, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: faith, suffering, Peace, Joy, hope
Two thousands years ago Paul of Tarsus was in a jail cell in Rome writing a letter to his beloved church, the Philippians. The imprisonment wasn’t easy on him. Roman prisons were very different from ours. He relied on others for food and clothing. But as hard as it was physically, we can imagine it was even more so emotionally. He was separated from most people, torn abo...
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April 11, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: gospel, cross, Jesus, easter
Yesterday was Good Friday. Tomorrow Jesus is going to rise. But Saturday he’s in the tomb. What is the significance of today? There’s many answers. Our God is a God of beautiful design and reasoning. This gospel plan...
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April 11, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
|
Category:
Theology
Yesterday was Good Friday. Tomorrow Jesus is going to rise. But Saturday he’s in the tomb. What is the significance of today? There’s many answers. Our God is a God of beautiful design and reasoning. This gospel plan...
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April 6, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: salvation, hope, Heaven, Jesus
Our Lord’s words here tell a precious promise. A guilty, crucified criminal is heading to Paradise. The same day he’s punished for his crimes, he’s promised by his Creator to be in glory. How did such a drastic change of destinations come about for this thief? Why did Jesus say what he did?...
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March 30, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: trust, God, Promises, History
Psalm 91 promises, “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.” (Psalm 91:4-6) This is God promise. It’s true. Yet pestilence an...
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March 23, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: Christ, devotion, Time
You could look back at this coronavirus season as one of the times where you grew exponentially in Christ. Or not. We each have the opportunity years from now to remember this season...
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March 23, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
|
Category:
Christian Living
You could look back at this coronavirus season as one of the times where you grew exponentially in Christ. Or not. We each have the opportunity years from now to remember this season...
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March 16, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: church, God, faith, Christian living, hope, love, Fear
Coronavirus is spreading fast. Schools are being shut down. Events have been cancelled. And governments all over the globe are buckling down in an attempt to halt the pandemic. How are we as Christians to respond? While God’s world seems to be in panic, how are God’s people to act?...
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March 16, 2020
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: God, faith, hope, love, Fear
Coronavirus is spreading fast. Schools are being shut down. Events have been cancelled. And governments all over the globe are buckling down in an attempt to halt the pandemic. How are we as Christians to respond? While God’s world seems to be in panic, how are God’s people to act?...
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August 7, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: Technology, worship, Joy
“Images have always become substitutes for God, and no age makes more images than our age,” writes Tony Reinke in his recent book Competing Spectacles (117). He’s right, but we Christians often we miss this. We know that in ancient times people made idols out of images. We read prophetic denouncements (like from Isaiah 44:9-20) and wholeheartedly agree. We know these...
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June 11, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: God, Sovereignty, trust, Power
The plagues and the Exodus. These are famous displays of the wonders of God. Much has and could be written about this time in history. But I want to focus in this short post on the flies and the chariot wheels. Yes, those pesky flies, and yes, just the chariot wheels in the story. These might seem like they aren’t anywhere near the main point of the story, but God used t...
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June 4, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: hope, evil, love, God
Evil is thwarted, undermined, and outdone by the love of God. This is true especially at the cross where the love of God defeated the darkness that has spread over the world. By dying in the place of his people, God in his love enabled sinners to be genuinely forgiven, reconciled to him, and transformed. There, God’s love won......
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May 21, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: bible, world, culture, prayer
What really do our prayers accomplish when it comes to massive, worldwide issues? Do our prayer actually impact big problems and events that affect millions of people? To say the least, worldwide issues are complicated. There are innumerable moving parts in such things. So, once again, do our prayers really do much here?...
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May 14, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
|
Category:
Theology | Tags: love, God
With what can we compare God’s love for his people? C.S. Lewis provides us with four helpful analogies to picture God’s love...
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May 7, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: hope, faith, identity, Christ
Being “in Christ.” Unified “with Christ.” It is one of the most important ideas in the New Testament...What I’ve noticed, however, is that we can hear this terminology often, especially in gospel-centered circles, but not clearly know what it means. We hear that our “identity is in Jesus,” that we're "united to him," that "it's all about Jesus," but what does...
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May 1, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: miracles, Jesus, worship
One of my favorite miracles of Jesus is one that isn’t talked about too much. It probably is less famous because of how short it is; or because it only occurs in one of the Gospel accounts; or especially because it doesn’t directly impact anyone who is suffering or sick like so many of Jesus’ miracles wonderfully do. But the reason I love it so much is because of wha...
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May 1, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: Jesus, obedience, faith
Christians know the daily grind: We live in a world which is vying for our affections and actions, wrestling us and trying to make us forget God and live for self. It's governed by the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), influenced by those who "do not honor God as God nor give a to him" (Romans 1:21), and filled with people living for money, sex, and power. ...
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May 1, 2019
by Ryan Hawkins
| Tags: easter, resurrection, Jesus
Three days after he died on the cross, Jesus of Nazareth rose from his grave. And we’re talking about historical fact when we make such a claim: Jesus of Nazareth was born around 4 B.C. and lived until around 30 A.D., he was crucified under Pontius Pilate on a Friday, and he came back to life a few days later on a Sunday. If you could go back around 2,000 years, you coul...
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